Lorna Hamer: ‘Hi, I’m Lorna from Quality Pipe Supports in Newtown, Powys. This is the area where we recycle. We recycle plastics, which we have to take over the border to Oswestry as there’s nowhere in Powys to recycle them. Paper and cardboard are the same; we have to take them to Oswestry. Metals we have to take to a local company. Wood—we recycle that, but there’s nowhere in Powys to take it to. We then recycle these plastic cups, which are recyclable—[Inaudible.]—there’s nowhere in Powys to recycle them. It’s the same with fabrics and aerosols; there’s nowhere to take them. We do pay the council a licence for recycling our goods, but there’s just nowhere for them to go.’

Paul Martin: ‘The bin at the end of my lane, as you can see, is full of household waste. There are a lot of black bags, which shouldn’t be here at all—they should be purple. This will be spilled all out over the sides by the time of the collection, which will be in about 10 days’ time. We’ve noticed a big increase in the amount of waste in this bin since the closure of the Kerry recycling unit a few months ago.’

Dan Morgan: ‘Hi, my name’s Dan Morgan. I’m the general manager here at Cefn Lea park in Newtown, Powys. Information about our rubbish at the moment, as this has become quite a problem for us as a business: a number of years ago, we used to have about 10 of these wheelie bins full of rubbish per week. Over the last three or four years, since the recycling has come into place for the council, we’ve cut this down to two bins per week, whereas the other eight bins worth of rubbish per week was being recycled in the food waste bins and plastic et cetera. Now, from 1 February, the council are cutting off recycling services for businesses, which is a major problem for us.’